Originally published in The Hindu.
Rainbows in the sky – Sheesh Mahal (Telugu – Vivek Sagar)
Sheesh Mahal could hardly be called a Telugu soundtrack, given it has 4 Hindi songs, a Tamil song, an English song and just one Telugu song! Fresh from his Pelli Choopulu success, composer Vivek Sagar concocts an interestingly diverse soundtrack. His best is the English track, Rainbows in the sky, which, like the Tamil song (Chitramaaga) comes alive with the jazz sound powered by George Hull’s sax. The star of the song, of course, is singer Shri, who handles the flashy tune in style!
Maalai varum – Nenjam Marappathillai (Tamil – Yuvan Shankar Raja)
The soundtrack of Selvaraghavan’s latest, Nenjam Marappathillai is plagued with what Yuvan is obsessed with currently – using singers (including himself) who have mastered the art of singing out of pitch. This is a travesty really because Yuvan’s tunes in the soundtrack are really interesting. As for the singers, Dhanush pitches in as one, for Maalai varum, a tune fairly reminiscent of composer Adityan’s repertoire, with a catchy, haunting ‘Ramsay Ramsay’ hook. Dhanush is in a dicey ground, away from the simplistic ‘Why this Kolaveri?’ tune; it requires him to stick to the tune and he misses it confidently at many places.
Neelakasham – Jomonte Suviseshangal (Malayalam – Vidyasagar)
That Ilayaraja-style music from Vidyasagar is a thing of beauty. And the man reserves it for his Malayalam films, almost exclusively. Neelakasham, the best of the 3-song soundtrack of Jomonte Suviseshangal, is one such song. It also evokes pleasant memories of Vidyasagar’s classic, Thankathinkal, from Indraprastham. Sujatha Mohan and Najim Arshad are perfect for the job, with a particularly lovely second interlude, bringing back Ilayaraja’s exquisite folk sound!
Nashe si chadh gayi – Befikre (Hindi – Vishal-Shekhar)
Vishal and Shekhar have been on a mighty good streak this year, with soundtracks like Sultan, Akira and Banjo. Regardless of the commercial prospects of the last two films, the music has been consistently interesting. Befikre isn’t perhaps a perfect fit in that line-up thanks to its largely conventional sounds, perhaps owing to Aditya Chopra’s mainstream needs. Still, a couple of songs do merit attention, like Nashe si chadh gayi that pulsates with Arijit Singh’s superb vocals and a lively, hypnotic Middle Eastern sound. The only thing holding back the song is those silly Chipmunks’ish intrusions.
Belageddu – Kirik Party (Kannada – Ajaneesh Loknath)
With every new trailer and song, Kirik Party seems to Karnataka’s answer to Kerala’s Premam, at least in terms of intent, if not execution too. Composer Ajaneesh Loknath is in a blistering form this year and he produces excellent music in this soundtrack too. In Belageddu, Ajaneesh hands over the song to the always dependable Vijay Prakash who handles the song’s frothy, playfully mischievous tune wonderfully. The composer adds little nuances like the banter-style conversation between Vijay Prakash and the chorus to add considerable charm to the song.
